Monitoring of firearms to improve the public safety, as well as for notifying authorities (such as police departments, or security guard agencies, or the like) of a firearm discharge or other dangerous situations involving firearms over a wireless communication network has been addressed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 8,339,257 and U. S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0290110.
In the '257 Patent, a firearm is described which is equipped with the capability of wireless communication to report a discharge of the firearm to a reporting center terminal via a wireless communication link. A sensor is coupled to the firearm housing (which encases a trigger assembly) for sensing the discharge of the firearm. The housing encases a wireless communication unit for transmitting messages indicating occurrence of the firearm discharge to the reporting center terminal via a wireless communication network.
A GPS receiver installed in the firearm receives signals from GPS satellites to enable the calculation of the location of the firearm to be transmitted to the reporting center terminal upon detection of the discharge of the firearm.
The sensing circuitry is implemented with an accelerometer to sense movement of the firearm and to detect a discharge, an antenna to receive GPS signals from the satellites and send SMS messages, a battery rechargeable by movement of officers or guards, and SMS components to send location of the handgun and time of the firearm discharge.
Another system for enhancing firearm safety through wireless network monitoring described in U. S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0290110, includes a sensing device mounted to a firearm. The sensing device includes a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) communicating with a server over a signaling channel of a wireless communication network.
The sensing device is configured to enable/disable the firing mechanism in the firearm in accordance with instructions received by the SIM from the server. Movements and/or attempted operations of the firearm may be monitored using an application running on a mobile device, which receives information concerning the firearm over the signaling channel of the wireless communication network.
The sensing device may include its own battery which may be rechargeable. The firearm may be configured with a port to permit coupling to an external power source to facilitate recharging of the integrated battery. The firearm owner may be notified via the mobile application of the battery status.
The sensing device includes one or more integrated circuits, having an on-board microcontroller, random access and redundant memory (which stores an operating system), an electrically erasable programmable read only memory that stores personality information such as a unique identifier, e.g., an international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI), and a related cryptographic key that is used to identify and authenticate a subscriber on a mobile telephone network. The SIM may also store one or more of a unique serial number(s), a personal identification number (PIN), and a personal unblocking code for unlocking the PIN. Applications also may be stored on the SIM, for example, the application which facilitates communications between the SIM and a mobile device.
In operation, the SIM stores network state information, including a location area identity (LAI), which is updated whenever the SIM changes locations.
The SIM communicatively couples the sensor device over a wireless network to a cloud-based platform that includes computer-based decision-making and database of rule sets for signaling information. The cloud-based platform is further communicatively coupled via a wireless network to a mobile device (such as a smart phone), which includes a firearm monitoring and safety application.
The mobile device application enables the firearm owner (or user) to communicate with the sensor device to receive status information such as alerts produced by motion sensors (included in the sensor device) responsive to movements of the firearm. The sensor device may be also enabled for the purposes of tracking the location of the firearm.
Another firearm security system (which is described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,819,979) includes a module incorporating the motion sensor which is interconnected to a gun. The motion sensor generates a motion signal if movement is detected. The motion signal can be passed to a communication device associated with the gun owner through a network.
The security module includes a motion sensor which may be an accelerometer or any other device capable of sensing movement of the firearm to which the security module is interconnected, and is capable of generating a motion signal in response to detection of such movement, such as a motion sensor. Multiple motion sensors of different types and orientation can be included in the security module.
A satellite positioning system receiver may also be included in the security module for generating signals that indicate the location of the security module, and sensing changes in the location of the firearm generating a motion signal in response to detection of the change of the firearm location.
The security module additionally includes a trigger lock assembly which can be electronically and/or mechanically locked or unlocked. When the trigger lock is unlocked (either in response to an electronic command or manually), the trigger lock may generate an unlocked trigger signal. The trigger lock may also generate a trigger “pulled” signal when the trigger lock is in a locked condition and there is an attempt to actuate the trigger.
The controller can send lock and/or unlock commands to the trigger lock. For example, the controller can send a lock command in response to a “motion detected” signal from either the motion sensor or the satellite positioning system receiver. The controller can send either “lock” or “unlock” commands in accordance with the schedule of locking and unlocking times, proximity of the user's communication device, and/or in response to signals received from the user (or other authority), either through an input/output facility which may be included as a part of the security module, or via the communication device or system server. The gun user (or gun owner) may also remotely lock or unlock the gun by accessing the system server using any device connected to the Internet.
When the security module is removed from an object (firearm) to which it is attached, the security module may generate a “module removed” signal.
A controller is incorporated into the security module to control various aspects of its operation. The controller (processor) receives signals generated by the motion sensor, the satellite position system receiver, the security module, and/or the trigger lock to convert the signals to messages, such as a “motion detected” message, a “position” message, an “unlocked trigger” message, a “trigger pulled” message, a “registered user detected” message when a registered user is within the proximity of the security module, a “module removed” message, etc. The controller sends the messages to a transceiver module for transmission to the communication device and/or the system server. The controller can also cause an alarm signal to be output by an input/output facility of the security module in response to a motion signal from the motion sensor or the satellite positioning system receiver, or in response to a “trigger pulled” signal from the trigger lock.
The transmit/receive module supports communication between the security module and other system components (such as a communication device and system server) via the communication network. Examples of a suitable transmit/receive module include an IEEE 802.11 interface (i.e., Wi-Fi interface), a cellular telephony interface, a Global System for Mobile communication (GSM) interface, Bluetooth interface, a wired Ethernet interface, or the like.
The communication network includes any network or combination of networks capable of supporting the transmission of messages and information from the security module to a monitoring device (such as the communication device and/or the system server).
Although having a utility and constituting a definite progress in the firearms safety approach of police departments or security agencies' personnel, there is still a need for more comprehensive intelligence data acquisition and coverage of the situations in which police officers, or security guards at residential or commercial premises, as well as gun owners, are forced to use their firearms.